Gas Infrastructure: The Missing Link To Industrializing Imo State

Imo State is blessed with enormous natural gas resources. The ANOH (Assa North–Ohaji South) Gas Project in Ohaji/Egbema is one of Nigeria’s most strategic gas developments, with the capacity to process about 300 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.

The project was designed to increase domestic gas supply, generate Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), condensate and cleaner energy for industries and power generation.

Yet, despite sitting on one of Nigeria’s richest gas reserves, Imo State has very little gas infrastructure serving its industries, businesses or homes. Gas is extracted from our land, but the economic benefits are largely realised elsewhere because there is no distribution network within the state. This must change.

The future of industrialisation in Imo State does not lie in merely producing gas, it lies in delivering gas to factories, industries, power plants, transport operators and households.

The Lesson from Ogun State.

Ogun State did not become Nigeria’s industrial capital simply because it had more natural resources. It became attractive because government deliberately invested in infrastructure that reduced the cost of doing business.

Manufacturers choose locations where electricity is reliable, transportation is efficient, land is accessible and energy costs are low.

Gas is the cheapest and cleanest industrial fuel available today.

Thousands of industries in Ogun State enjoy competitive operating costs because natural gas is readily available through an extensive pipeline network serving industrial clusters.

Imo State has the raw material.

Ogun State has the infrastructure.

Our mission should be to combine both.

The Missing Infrastructure.

Today, the ANOH Gas Project processes gas in Ohaji.

The gas enters national transmission pipelines.

However, there is almost no state-wide gas distribution system connecting:

• Owerri Industrial Layout

• Avu Industrial Area

• Naze Industrial Estate

• Orlu Industrial Zone

• Okigwe Industrial Axis

• Mbaise

• Oguta

• Commercial estates

• Universities

• Hospitals

• Hotels

• Manufacturing companies

• Small industries

Without these connections, investors cannot utilise to our greatest natural advantage.

My Proposal: The Imo State Gas Infrastructure Programme (ISGIP).

I propose that Imo State establishes the Imo State Gas Infrastructure Programme, built on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.

Government should not operate gas businesses.

Government should build the enabling infrastructure while licensed private operators manage distribution professionally.

Pillar One.

Build a State Gas Transmission Backbone.

Construct approximately 250–350 km of medium-pressure gas transmission pipelines linking:

ANOH (Ohaji)
Owerri
Orlu
Okigwe
Oguta
Mbaise

Major Industrial Estates.

This backbone will become the state’s gas highway.

Just as roads move vehicles, pipelines move energy.

Pillar Two.

Create Industrial Gas Parks.

Develop dedicated gas-fed industrial parks in

• Owerri
• Ohaji
• Orlu
• Okigwe
Mbaise

Financing the Vision*

The project should not depend solely on state government funding.

Funding sources include.

• Public-Private Partnerships (PPP)

• Infrastructure Bonds

• Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Fund

• Development Finance Institutions

• Pension Funds
• Sovereign Investors
• Multilateral Development Banks
• Private Infrastructure Investors

Government provides policy direction, land, permits and right-of-way while private investors finance, build and operate under regulated agreements.

Expected Economic Impact.

Within ten years, this programme could.

• Attract hundreds of manufacturing companies.

• Create thousands of direct engineering, technical and construction jobs.

• Generate many more indirect jobs in logistics, services and commerce.

• Increase Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

• Lower electricity costs for businesses.

• Reduce dependence on diesel generators.

• Position Imo as the industrial gateway of South-East Nigeria.

• Improve environmental sustainability by replacing diesel with cleaner natural gas.

Why This Matters for Ahiazu/Ezinihitte.

As your representative in the House of Representatives, I will champion federal policies that encourage investment in gas infrastructure, support public- private partnerships and ensure that producing communities and neighbouring constituencies benefit from Nigeria’s gas economy.

Ahiazu/Ezinihitte is strategically positioned to benefit from new industries, agro-processing, logistics and small businesses powered by affordable natural gas. Our youths deserve skilled jobs, not unemployment. Our entrepreneurs deserve reliable energy, not expensive diesel.

Conclusion.

Natural resources alone do not create prosperity.

Infrastructure does.

Imo State has already won the natural resource lottery through the ANOH Gas Project. The next step is to build the pipelines, industrial parks, gas distribution systems and power infrastructure that will unlock the full value of this resource.

If Ogun State can become Nigeria’s industrial powerhouse through infrastructure, there is no reason Imo State cannot become the gas-powered industrial hub of the South-East.

The future belongs not to states that merely produce resources, but to states that transform resources into industries, jobs, wealth and opportunity.

That is the Imo we must build together.